The present invention relates to furniture and, more specifically, to drawer pedestal units for office furniture.
Drawer pedestals are capable of increasing the storage space in office and home environments. Conventional drawer pedestals are constructed to either stand alone or be positioned under a desk, table or similar structure.
A typical drawer pedestal includes several drawers positioned one over the other in an open-faced box-like cabinet. The pedestal includes drawer slides fastened to vertical side walls. The drawers include rollers that interfit within the drawer slides to allow the drawers to be slid in and out from the pedestal. Most of the components of the typical drawer pedestal are constructed of metal and fastened together with screws or bolts.
Although conventional drawer pedestals are capable of increasing storage space, they suffer several shortcomings. First, because the drawer components of the drawer pedestals usually are constructed from metal, the resulting unit is quite heavy. This makes shipping expensive, and makes movement of the pedestals around the office or home difficult. Second, with various moving metal parts and fasteners to connect components, it is difficult and time consuming to assemble the drawer pedestals. Third, because the components are made from rigid metal they do not stack well, which makes storage of unassembled components space-consuming.
One solution to the problems associated with conventional metal drawer pedestals is to replace the metal panels of drawer pedestals and drawers with plastic panels. However, in many cases, plastic-paneled drawer pedestals tend to be less rigid than their metal counterparts. Accordingly, the plastic pedestals fail to provide adequate support for heavy or multiple objects placed on top of the unit. For example, users frequently stack objects on the top panel of drawer pedestals or use the top as a work surface. With plastic pedestals, the top panel has a tendency to deflect or bow under relatively small loads. Over time, multiple deflections from loads may cause the plastic top panel to separate from the side walls to which it is connected, and in some cases, cave into the pedestal.
It is therefore desirable in the art to have a drawer pedestal that is lightweight, and therefore easy to handle and ship, but that is sufficiently sturdy to support objects placed on it.
The aforementioned problems are overcome by the present invention wherein a drawer pedestal is provided that includes an internal compartment structure, a top panel, and a structural support member positioned between the top panel and the compartment structure, which transfers loads from the top panel to the compartment structure.
In a first aspect of the invention, the drawer pedestal includes a shell and a substructure that cooperate to define a storage space within the drawer pedestal. The substructure includes a compartment structure that projects into the storage space. The shell includes a top panel, which forms the top surface of the drawer pedestal, above the compartment structure. A structural support is frictionally fit between the compartment structure and the top panel.
In a variation of the first aspect, the shell includes upright side walls, one of which defines a compartment structure opening. The compartment structure of the substructure projects through the storage space of the drawer pedestal and interfits within the compartment structure opening.
The present invention provides a drawer pedestal that is lightweight, yet rigid and sturdy enough to place objects on its top surface without it collapsing after repeated loading. The strength of the top panel is due to the support, which transfers loads from the top panel to the compartment structure and the substructure. With the compartment structure intermitting in the side wall compartment opening, additional loads also may be transferred from the top panel to the shell of the drawer pedestal. Accordingly, users may use the top surface of the drawer pedestal as additional storage or work space with little concern of the surface deforming or collapsing.